orange level purxhase

[beachfanatic]

doing a 35 day in a verandah    looking fot pro and cons tompurchase rthe orange level perks on koningsdam

[MrSnuffleupagus]

Just do it.

[YourWorldWithBill]

Agree. Especially on the Koningsdam, you'll have access to the Club Orange dining room. This itself is very nice, in addition to the other benefits, such as priority boarding, cabin upgrades, etc.

[vino100]

We loved club orange on the konsingdam. Great servers, less noise , fewer diners and hot food. So much more relaxed than the main dining room. 

[Crew News]

19 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Agree. Especially on the Koningsdam, you'll have access to the Club Orange dining room. This itself is very nice, in addition to the other benefits, such as priority boarding, cabin upgrades, etc.

Just for clarification:  Club Orange benefits include....."priority check-in and disembarkation."  Club Orange does not provide priority boarding.

[erdufylla]

When I priced it on my upcoming 14-day, the stateroom upgrade alone paid for it. I was able to downgrade my guaranteed non-obstructed verandah to the lowest class/obstructed view, add the CO buy-in, and then select my upgraded verandah stateroom from any that were still available. (I think the one I ended up selecting was a VB class, but I qualified for up to VA). It actually brought my booking cost down. Granted, I’m traveling solo, so there was only one person to charge for CO instead of two, but I think you’d still just about break even with adding CO for two people. FWIW, CO for this itinerary was $15/day/person, $210 for the 14-day cruise. 

[erdufylla]

8 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Just for clarification:  Club Orange benefits include....."priority check-in and disembarkation."  Club Orange does not provide priority boarding.

I know there’s always a lot of people pointing out that “check-in“ and “boarding” are not synonymous, and as far as the physical act of checking in vs walking onto the ship goes, I understand the difference, but I’m not sure I know what the difference is in this circumstance. I assumed “priority check-in” meant you’d be given an earlier check-in time, and once you clear that and customs, you’re free to board the ship. Are there different lines for boarding (“priority“ vs non) once you’ve passed through customs? Or is there some other boarding perk that’s only available to Neptune Suite passengers, etc. that CO doesn’t include?

 

I know one of the other perks of CO I’m looking forward to is priority boarding for tendering, when that’s necessary. 

[Crew News]

2 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

I know there’s always a lot of people pointing out that “check-in“ and “boarding” are not synonymous, and as far as the physical act of checking in vs walking onto the ship goes, I understand the difference, but I’m not sure I know what the difference is in this circumstance. I assumed “priority check-in” meant you’d be given an earlier check-in time, and once you clear that and customs, you’re free to board the ship. Are there different lines for boarding (“priority“ vs non) once you’ve passed through customs? Or is there some other boarding perk that’s only available to Neptune Suite passengers, etc. that CO doesn’t include?

 

I know one of the other perks of CO I’m looking forward to is priority boarding for tendering, when that’s necessary. 

Priority check-in means you will use the same check-inline as the Pinnacle/Neptune suites and 4/5 Star Mariner passengers. Since there are few of the latter categories, Club Orange check-in will get you closer to the gangway in the boarding area than those who arrived with you for check-in.

 

The succession of boarding priority is Pinnacle Suites (escorted by a ship officer), Mobility challenged passengers with their families, Neptune Suites and 4/5 Star Mariners, and then all other passengers based on their completed check-in time.

 

We are still trying to figure out the assignment of check-in times.  My experience is that is not suite-based, age-based, distance traveled, or Mariner status.

[*Miss G*]

8 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

I know there’s always a lot of people pointing out that “check-in“ and “boarding” are not synonymous, and as far as the physical act of checking in vs walking onto the ship goes, I understand the difference, but I’m not sure I know what the difference is in this circumstance. I assumed “priority check-in” meant you’d be given an earlier check-in time, and once you clear that and customs, you’re free to board the ship. Are there different lines for boarding (“priority“ vs non) once you’ve passed through customs? Or is there some other boarding perk that’s only available to Neptune Suite passengers, etc. that CO doesn’t include?

 

At the embarkation ports which recognize priority passengers (Neptune/Pinnacle Suites, 4*, 5*, President’s Club, Club Orange) you will have expedited processing and boarding.    This means you can ignore the automated check-in time you’ll be assigned and check in at your leisure.  Using Fort Lauderdale as an example (as I am guessing your TA will depart from there) you will go up the escalator to the priority lounge and board with the rest of the priority guests. 

[erdufylla]

Ah! Thank you for clarifying! I guess I’ve never really gotten caught up in that wait, so I didn’t realize there was a priority ranking in play there. In my (admittedly limited) experience, both check-in and boarding were nearly immediate, and the only real lines I’ve experienced were to get through customs. (My most recent cruise through Vancouver may be coloring that memory, too, as that customs line was *long*.)

[*Miss G*]

5 minutes ago, Crew News said:

The succession of boarding priority is Pinnacle Suites (escorted by a ship officer), Mobility challenged passengers with their families, Neptune Suites and 4/5 Star Mariners, and then all other passengers based on their completed check-in time.

 

In PEV, for example, the Pinnacle Suites board first, then mobility-challenged, then by seating row.  NS and * Mariners don’t seem to figure into the equation but the arrival time does figure into the seating row.

[YourWorldWithBill]

17 hours ago, erdufylla said:

Ah! Thank you for clarifying! I guess I’ve never really gotten caught up in that wait, so I didn’t realize there was a priority ranking in play there. In my (admittedly limited) experience, both check-in and boarding were nearly immediate, and the only real lines I’ve experienced were to get through customs. (My most recent cruise through Vancouver may be coloring that memory, too, as that customs line was *long*.)

On our recent cruise from Amsterdam, there was a priority check-in area. We just breezed through, no wait, compared to the long line at the regular check-in. And this was early. After checking in, boarding came right away, but it's different in each port. Having experienced Vancouver last September, you're right about that ordeal!

[terrydtx]

If you use CO for just the category cabin upgrade it will pay for itself. Example, we booked the Volendam for August next year in a Vista Suite for 11 days. We booked a category B Vista located close to the aft, but we wanted a Category A midship location. The CO with the upgrade cost us $275 each.  However, the cost difference between the Cat B Vista and the highest level A Vista was $270 each. So CO only cost us $5 each for the cruise as we would have booked the A Vista Suite midship without CO anyway. When we booked and got the upgrade we were also able to book the exact cabins and location we desired. If you play the upgrade CO game right, CO is almost free.

 

Now our Koningsdam cruise in November was a different story. When we booked we booked the last aft facing verandah cabin available and didn't add CO until a few weeks later so we were already at the highest lever cabin category and an upgrade was not available and unwanted. HAL gave us an additional $100 pp OBC because there was no upgrade available, CO cost us $175 each, with the $100 OBC it only cost us $75 each to add CO. $75 is well worth the cost of having Club Orange dining room service for dinners.

Edited June 29, 2023 by terrydtx

[horseymike]

Hi Terry,

At what point are you offered the opportunity to book Club Orange ?

I recently booked a cruise on the Rotterdam for March of 2024  and did not see any option for Club Orange yet. Do they offer the option as it gets closer to sail date ?

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Hi Terry,

At what point are you offered the opportunity to book Club Orange ?

I recently booked a cruise on the Rotterdam for March of 2024  and did not see any option for Club Orange yet. Do they offer the option as it gets closer to sail date ?

The CO option doesn't show online to purchase, you have to call HAL to add or have your TA do it. They only sell a limited number per cruise so the earlier the better, if not done when you book. My TA handles it for me and knows what upgrade cabin I want. On our Volendam cruise my sister and cousin have now booked with us so we have 3 VS all together with CO.

Edited June 29, 2023 by terrydtx

[horseymike]

Thanks Terry

[YourWorldWithBill]

13 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Now our Koningsdam cruise in November was a different story. When we booked we booked the last aft facing verandah cabin available and didn't add CO until a few weeks later so we were already at the highest lever cabin category and an upgrade was not available and unwanted. HAL gave us an additional $100 pp OBC because there was no upgrade available, CO cost us $175 each, with the $100 OBC it only cost us $75 each to add CO. $75 is well worth the cost of having Club Orange dining room service for dinners.

Thanks for this great info. Good to know that they offered OBC, since an upgrade was not possible.

[highland cruiser]

We purchased CO on our Koningsdam Hawaii cruise in January.  There were 4 of us and and we got the state room upgrade. For us it was an aft verandah.  Loved it.  We had to ask our TA to add it to our booking thus the room upgrade in the verandah category was added. A good savings with the veranda upgrade. The CO dedicated dining room on the Kdam is wonderful.  We had great service.  We dine early about 5:30 and we had the same table for the four of us at breakfast and dinner.  The line to get into the main dining room was often past where we entered the CO.  My sister has some standing and walking issues so CO was a blessing for us all.  Service was outstanding. 

As far as boarding at San Diego, since we are 5 star, our family went with us without any problem and we boarded after the Pinnacle and Neptune people.  

When we boarded in San Antonio  in March for our Inca and Panama canal cruise, we were in a Neptune but I noticed the check in sign said Pinnacle, Neptune, 4/5 star and CO.  We all went to check in at the same time.  In fact we were behind a CO couple.  Didn't matter to us.  We were on board quickly.  I think like someone posted earlier that it depends upon the port how they group people.

But we certainly can recommend CO enjoy and will book it again in the future.  

[BSR]

17 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Now our Koningsdam cruise in November was a different story. When we booked we booked the last aft facing verandah cabin available and didn't add CO until a few weeks later so we were already at the highest lever cabin category and an upgrade was not available and unwanted. HAL gave us an additional $100 pp OBC because there was no upgrade available, CO cost us $175 each, with the $100 OBC it only cost us $75 each to add CO. $75 is well worth the cost of having Club Orange dining room service for dinners.

I'm booked on the Koningsdam and added CO.  I'm in the highest category level and no upgrade was available.  We only got $50 pp OBC.  How did you get $100 pp OBC?

[terrydtx]

54 minutes ago, BSR said:

I'm booked on the Koningsdam and added CO.  I'm in the highest category level and no upgrade was available.  We only got $50 pp OBC.  How did you get $100 pp OBC?

My TA negotiated the order with HAL. 

[erdufylla]

I think a lot probably depends on how far out you are from the cruise, and what kind of availability they still have. If it’s after the final payment date, or if you already have a top-level room reserved that you don’t want to risk releasing before downgrading, adding CO, and upgrading back to that same cabin, I can see where OBC would be a decent trade. On my future cruise, which isn’t until next June, I had my PCC downgrade my premium verandah to the lowest class, added CO, and then selected a premium verandah stateroom. No OBC, but my total due next spring has been reduced more than the $210 I paid this week to add CO. So lots of different options and outcomes depending on timing and availability.

[BSR]

Has anyone else received $100 pp OBC that couldn't upgrade because they were in the highest category?

[YourWorldWithBill]

Were the length of the cruises the same?

[*Miss G*]

15 hours ago, BSR said:

Has anyone else received $100 pp OBC that couldn't upgrade because they were in the highest category?

 

Compensation will have a lot to do with original price paid vs current pricing, along with other weighted factors.  That’s why it goes to a pricing specialist.  Don’t get stuck on he-got-that-so-I-should-too.  It doesn’t work that way.

[POA1]

On 6/28/2023 at 10:12 PM, terrydtx said:

If you use CO for just the category cabin upgrade it will pay for itself. Example, we booked the Volendam for August next year in a Vista Suite for 11 days. We booked a category B Vista located close to the aft, but we wanted a Category A midship location. The CO with the upgrade cost us $275 each.  However, the cost difference between the Cat B Vista and the highest level A Vista was $270 each. So CO only cost us $5 each for the cruise as we would have booked the A Vista Suite midship without CO anyway. When we booked and got the upgrade we were also able to book the exact cabins and location we desired. If you play the upgrade CO game right, CO is almost free.

 

Now our Koningsdam cruise in November was a different story. When we booked we booked the last aft facing verandah cabin available and didn't add CO until a few weeks later so we were already at the highest lever cabin category and an upgrade was not available and unwanted. HAL gave us an additional $100 pp OBC because there was no upgrade available, CO cost us $175 each, with the $100 OBC it only cost us $75 each to add CO. $75 is well worth the cost of having Club Orange dining room service for dinners.

I made the mistake of choosing a midship Vista suite and then adding CO. Because an upgrade was available for an aft Vista Suite and I turned it down, we won't get the OBC. We have a cabana which is all the way forward up top. Knowing how often we forget something in the room and have to run back from the cabana, the midship location was preferable. (I'm not saying that the aft rooms are super far from the Retreat Cabana area, but it feels like you'd need to pack a lunch.)

 

Anyway.... I've learned my lesson for next time. Besides, we're in it for the orange tote bag and the cachet of flashing our Club Orange room key cards when we buy drinks.